New Exhibition: Architectural Contrasts

Opening in February: The Rare Book Reading Room and the Pre-Columbian Collection Pavilion 50th Anniversary (1963–2013)

2013 marks the fiftieth anniversaries of the Rare Book Reading Room and the Pre-Columbian Collection pavilion at Dumbarton Oaks. Designed by Frederic Rhinelander King and Philip Johnson respectively, these two buildings were constructed simultaneously between 1961 and 1963 but in two dramatically contrasting styles, one traditional and the other modern. A new exhibition in the Orientation and Bliss Galleries will display original drawings, construction photographs, and a model to demonstrate the remarkable architectural contrasts of these additions as envisioned by Dumbarton Oaks under the patronage of Mildred and Robert Woods Bliss.